Ilana Cliffer

Scientist – Food systems

Ilana Cliffer joined the World Vegetable Center in 2024. Her focus is on enabling vegetable-rich diets globally, through research on food systems interventions aimed at making vegetables more affordable and accessible to consumers.

Her current projects and interests include: evaluating links between home gardens and diet and nutrition outcomes; demand creation for traditional and indigenous vegetables; understanding links between food environments and vegetable consumption; minimizing postharvest losses along the vegetable value chain; and interventions to improve food safety. In addition, she has a range of experiences at the intersection of food systems and maternal and child health, including a specific interest in understanding how complex systems interact to create seasonal fluctuations in food environments, infectious disease, and ultimately nutrition and health.

Prior to joining WorldVeg, Ilana received her PhD from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and did a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health.